Ipad's new retina screen means 16GB verso is almost obsolete

New iPad's flagship feature, its 2048-by-1536 pixel display, looks exquisite. The screen sports four times as many pixels as its predecessors, so for Retina display support apps need new images that are twice as wide and twice as tall as before. As already seen with the iPhone 4's release, a massive bump in screen resolution means that plenty of apps need to be updated to fully take advantage of all those extra pixels. And that means bigger apps. In fact, much bigger apps - and eventually the much improved screen may severely limit how you use the tablet.

How big are updated apps?

Some of Apple’s own and updated iPad apps give a clue. It’s not a perfect comparison, since Apple also added some features to the apps it updated with Retina compatibility, but it’s still informative:

Keynote went from 115MB to 327MB; Numbers increased from 109MB to 283MB, and Pages went from 95MB to 269MB.
In other words, these apps increased their file sizes by a factor between 2.5 and 3. A smaller app like Tweetbot, for example, will reportedly grow from 8.8MB to 24.6MB. Larger, graphically intense games that weigh in between 300MB and 500MB today will likely require 750MB to 1.5GB once they update their art assets.

Not only this is worrying for owners of new iPad 16GB model, but the most worrying effect of the new iPad’s Retina display is its impact on older owners of both iPads and iPhones. As apps are universal across iPad / iPhone space, your updated apps will become much larger even if you don’t own a Retina-display iPad. And we get no choice. Key take: forger to buy 16 GB iPhone / iPad. You'll run out of space.

See also related story at MacWorld.

TestFlight being acquired

PandoDaily reports that TestFlight ("iOS beta testing on the fly") is in the process of being acquired by Burstly ("The Leading App Monetization Tools").

"That deal went down in Q4 of last year, but they kept it quiet until now. The reason is that the two teams had a plan for where they wanted to take TestFlight, and that’s ready to be unveiled today: TestFlight Live.

Now, before every iOS app developer freaks out, let’s be clear: the TestFlight you know and love will continue to exist in its current (and free) form. TestFlight Live is a new product. This is a smart play by both sides, because it completes the circle between TestFlight (app testing) and Burstly (app monetization).

TestFlight Live is a real-time dashboard for iOS apps, sort of like Chartbeat for app data. It shows live engagement, revenue, audience, and stability information on one website. It allows developers to see how their apps are selling, and how well their in-app purchases are doing. It also allows them to see how well their in-app ads are doing, though this isn’t exclusively tied to Burstly at all. It even shows the all-important Revenue Per User (RPU)."

Samwer brothers, art of copy and execution

Bloomberg Businessweek reported some time ago an interesting story in regard to Oliver, Marc, and Alexander Samwer, a trio of German brothers who have a wildly successful business model: Find a promising Internet business, in the U.S., and clone it internationally. Since starting their first dot-clone in 1999, a German version of EBay, they’ve duplicated Airbnb, eHarmony, Pinterest, and other high-profile businesses. In total, they’ve launched more than 100 companies. Their Zappos clone, Zalando, now dominates six European markets and is estimated to be worth $1 billion by Financial Times Deutschland. Through their venture capital firm, the European Founders Fund, they also invested in European knockoffs of Facebook and YouTube (GOOG), which sold for $112 million and $36 million, respectively.

The Samwers’ base of operations is a startup accelerator in Berlin called Rocket Internet. Rocket launches companies, hires staff, and provides marketing, design, search engine optimization, and day-to-day management until the startup can fend for itself. Rocket’s executives won’t disclose revenue, but a former high-level employee estimates the company is worth at least $1 billion. Oliver Samwer, the middle brother and de facto head of the operation, says the firm has offices in at least 20 countries and has created 20,000 jobs over the years.

The App Store has reached 25 billion downloads

Apple's put out lists of the all time most popular for iPhone and iPad.

All-Time Top Free iPhone Apps

1. Facebook
2. Pandora Radio
3. Words with Friends Free
4. Skype
5. The Weather Channel ®
6. Google Search
7. Google Earth
8. Angry Birds Free
9. Shazam
10. Netflix

All-Time Top Paid iPhone Apps

1. Angry Birds
2. Fruit Ninja
3. Doodle Jump
4. Cut the Rope
5. Angry Birds Seasons
6. Words with Friends
7. Tiny Wings
8. Angry Birds Rio
9. Pocket God
10. Camera+

All-Time Top Free iPad Apps

1. Angry Birds HD Free
2. The Weather Channel® for iPad
3. Netflix
4. Skype for iPad
5. Kindle
6. ABC Player
7. Pandora Radio
8. Angry Birds Rip HD Free
9. CNN App for iPad
10. Words with Friends HD Free

All-Time Top Paid iPad Apps

1. Pages
2. Angry Birds HD
3. Angry Birds Seasons HD
4. Penultimate
5. Scrabble for iPad
6. Fruit Ninja HD
7. GarageBand
8. GoodReader for iPad
9. Angry Birds Rio HD
10. Cut the Rope HD